Entertainer’s poster with swastika-Star of David logo draws ire of Greek Jews

Greek Jews are calling for the removal of this nightclub promotional poster featuring an intertwined swastika and Star of David displaying in Piraeus, Greece. (Gavin Rabinowitz)

ATHENS, Greece (JTA) — Greek Jews want posters featuring a symbol of an intertwined swastika and Star of David to promote a nightclub entertainer’s shows to be taken down.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece has complained to authorities in Athens about the posters advertising a series of shows by singer and comedian Tsimis Panousis at a club in the port city of Piraeus, near Athens. The posters have been plastered across Athens and on major boulevards in the city.

The Jewish board in a statement said it had received positive responses to officials in its appeal to have the posters removed. However, the posters remained up in many places in the city.

“The design depicted on the poster fiercely insults our very religion as well as the memory of the six million Jews, victims of the Holocaust,” said the board’s statement, which was addressed to the Greek justice minister and officials in the Education Ministry.

Observers say that Panousis, who has a reputation for being provocative, apparently was trying to imply that Greece’s financial crisis was a result of the combined efforts of a German-led austerity plan and Jewish-controlled financial interests.

Greece has seen an upsurge recently in anti-Semitic incidents, but most have been tied to the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.